The motor vehicle lock under discussion is assigned to a motor vehicle door arrangement with a motor vehicle door. In the present case, the term “motor vehicle door” should be understood in broad terms. It includes in particular side doors, rear doors, tailgates, rear lids or engine bonnets. Such a motor vehicle door can in principle also be designed in the manner of a sliding door.
Crash safety plays an important role in motor vehicle locks nowadays. The primary concern is that neither crash-induced accelerations nor crash-induced deformations should lead to an undesirable opening of the motor vehicle door to which the motor vehicle lock is assigned.
The known motor vehicle lock (DE 10 2011 015 675 A1), on which the invention is based, is equipped with crash protection means which prevents a crash-induced, i.e. an automatic and undesirable, opening of the motor vehicle door, in the event of a crash. For this purpose, a crash element which can be adjusted by a crash-induced deformation of the door outer skin into a crash position and thereby blocks an actuating lever of the motor vehicle lock is provided.
In the known motor vehicle lock, the crash element is of pivotable design. Such a pivotable mounting is generally preferred in the region of the motor vehicle locks since the operational reliability of such pivot bearings even in the event of disadvantageous environmental conditions, for example in the event of icing conditions, is considered to be high.
However, a disadvantage of the known motor vehicle lock with a crash element which is pivotable via a pivot bearing is the fact that the introduction of force for an adjustment of the crash element always has to take place in a plane which is oriented perpendicularly to the pivot axis of the crash element. If this is not observed, destruction of the pivot bearing has to be anticipated particularly with the high forces occurring in the event of a crash. Account can be taken of this circumstance, in order to ensure high operational reliability, only with a particularly robust and therefore cost-intensive design of the pivot bearing of the crash element.
The invention is based on the problem of designing and developing the known motor vehicle lock in such a manner that the operational reliability of the crash protection means is increased with simple structural means.